Couple duped of Rs 80 lakh on promise of getting payments bank’s franchisees; 3 booked

Police have registered a case against three persons for allegedly duping a couple in Maharashtra’s Thane district of Rs 80 lakh by promising to get authorisation to open franchisees of a payments bank, officials said on Saturday.

The incident occurred between August 2022 and April 2023, and an FIR in this connection was registered on Thursday, they said.

The accused have been identified as Kalpit Ashokbhai Soni (46), Kunjalsingh Vikramsing Solanki (33), both from Gujarat, and Surendrakumar Kishorelal Sharma (40) from Rajasthan, the police said.

“The accused trio contacted a 46-year-old businesswoman, who along with her husband was assured that they would be granted authorisation to open franchisees of a payments bank,” an official of Kasarvadavli police station said.

“Between August 2022 and April 2023, the accused offered the businesswoman and her husband franchise opportunities in Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. They promised that they would secure them the gold loan franchisee/master franchisee and cash management schemes. The couple believed them and transferred Rs 80 lakh to the accused in instalments to their bank accounts,” he said.

But despite paying money to them, the victims neither got their money back nor received the authorisation for franchisees of a payments bank. After the couple realised that they had been duped, they lodged a complaint, the official said.

The accused trio was booked on the charges of criminal breach of trust, forgery, criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and common intention.